Life, 1921-12-01 · page 14 of 58
Life — December 1, 1921 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical article by Robert E. Sherwood about an unnamed but clearly accomplished person. The subject is being interviewed and becomes visibly uncomfortable when asked what he wants—his expression melting "into one of unspeakable suffering." The joke centers on a man who has achieved almost everything: graduated with honors, attended prestigious schools, written award-winning plays, performed as a soloist, directed films and theater, and scaled mountains. Yet this relentless achievement has left him empty and purposeless. He admits he determined as a boy to "do everything—and do everything well" but never questioned *why*. The photograph shows what appears to be a Santa Claus figure surrounded by movie cameras, illustrating how even holiday tradition gets commodified into entertainment and performance—fitting the theme that constant achievement and activity may be hollow.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Man Who Could Do Almost WAS about to interview the most successful man ® in the world, and I was fully conscious of the honor that was mine in being privileged to meet this extraordinary per- sonage face to face. When I saw him sitting in his li- brary, surrounded by rare old quartos, pintos and the like, I was a little sur- prised at his appearance. To be sure, he possessed the firm jaw and the squared shoulders of the man who does big things—but there was an ever so delicate expression in his steely gray eyes that did not suggest the realization of glorious achievements gloriously achieved. Somehow or other, the man looked baffled. “What do you want?” he asked in crisp tones. Robert E. Sherwood “T should like to know”—it required all my courage to speak as I did—‘I should like to know why you—the most successful of men—should have a look of wistful disappointment in your eyes.” His determined expression melted into one of unspeakable suffering. “Ah,” “he sighed, “so you’ve no- ticed it. “Yes,” I confessed, “and I assume it to be the same as Alexander's when the knowledge came that he had no more worlds to conquer.” * “Would that it were,” said the great man, “would that it were. But it isn’t.” I was discreetly silent, for I did not wish to probe too deep into what was quite obviously a grievous wound. “When I was but a boy,” he went on, “I determined to do everything—and do everything well. The world knows how I have realized my ambition. I Santa Breaks Into the Movies Everything have been graduated with highest hon- ors from eleven universities, three law schools, four business schools, two med- ical colleges and one ecclesiastical sem. inary. I have written a number of best sellers, and one of my landscapes was awarded a gold medal at the National Academy last year. I have been ac. claimed as a soloist (vocal and instru- mental) at symphony concerts in every great capital of the world, and I led the National League in batting the year | played for the New York Giants. Dur- ing my occasional incursions into the world of the theatre, I have been equally successful as director, actor, scene designer and dramatist, and | have at various times scaled every difii- cult peak in the Alps, the Andes and the Canadian Rockies. I am one of the twelve who understand Einstein's The- ory of Relativity, and I have twice He finds himself facing a battery of cameras as he is about to fill the Christmas stocking of the latest juvenile star. comicbooks.com